Chinese GWM Haval almost enters top 10 in Oz as sales skyrocket after arrival of hybrid SUVs

It’s no secret that Chinese cars are rapidly increasing in popularity here in Australia, but more milestones of their rise are already upon us.

It seems like not long ago everyone was surprised to see MG rocket into the top 10 car brands in Australia by sales, but now a second Chinese company, Great Wall Motors (parent company of GWM Haval) is knocking on the door to the top 10.

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According to industry figures, GWM was the 11th-best-selling car company in September 2022, trailing 10th place holder Subaru by just 117 sales. GWM’s 3050 sales last month make up 18.6 per cent of its 16,371 sales so far in 2022 - and is the brand's best sales month to date.

Compare this to last year, when GWM had only sold 13,200 cars all year to the end of September, coupled with the significant increase in annual market share since 2020, and it’s clear GWM is destined to follow MG into the top 10.

GWM’s total market share in 2020 was 0.6 per cent, a little more than one in every 200 cars sold being a GWM product. In 2021, the brand tripled that to 1.8 per cent. So far in 2022, GWM is sitting on a comfortable 2.0 per cent market share, with the brand able to boast a 3.3 per cent figure for September 2022.

With the pace clearly picking up for GWM, the year’s current 11th and 12th most popular car brands, BMW and Suzuki, are at risk of losing their place.

While BMW has sold 18,186 cars so far in 2022 and Suzuki 16,911, GWM outsold both in September meaning it could be in the top 10 overall - not just for an individual month - by the end of the year.

Key to this is its introduction of several new, competitively priced models in the popular SUV market segment, with more coming.

This year, the Haval brand launched two hybrid SUVs: the Toyota RAV4 Hybrid-rivalling Haval H6 Hybrid, and the slightly smaller Jolion Hybrid. Given wait times for Toyota’s (and Australia’s) most popular SUV is currently upwards of several months, GWM’s Haval brand is well-positioned to pick up some of its more impatient or cash-cautious intenders.

Both Haval H6 and Jolion have racked up around the same number of sales, approaching 5500 each, for the year so far. The other main seller for GWM, the Ute, is of course also thriving in dual-cab-hungry Australia.

That model, both its 4x4 and 4x2 versions, has totalled 5600 sales so far in 2022, making it the literal workhorse for the GWM stable.

Overall, GWM is up 24.0 per cent compared to the same time last year, and it’s only expected to grow.

Meanwhile, those standing between it and a place in the top 10 remain relatively stable, if not slowly losing sales. On paper, Suzuki is a comfortable 24.0 per cent up on its position last year, though a huge spike in sales for the soon-to-be-discontinued-in-Australia Baleno can be thanked for that.

BMW meanwhile is down 4.1 per cent, having found growth mostly in its smaller-quantity high-end products, while models like the 1 Series, 3 Series, and X1 lose ground compared to the same period last year.

Subaru, 10th place holder for September, is down 9.8 per cent on the same time last year, while current overall 10th place holder for 2022 so far Volkswagen is down 33.0 per cent - due to several factors such as supply constraints and its popular Amarok ute in runout.

More broadly, with MG and GWM both holding steady growth figures compared to the last couple of years, we can expect to see China continue to grow as a supplier of new cars for Australia.

In September, 23,880 cars arrived from Japan, while our ute obsession meant Thailand supplied the next-most vehicles at 20,363.

China’s 14,889 cars overtook South Korea’s 14,443, leaving previous strong contributors Germany and the US well behind.